I keep reading on here whenever someone who has a military spouse cheat on them that they should be reported to thier CO.... Here are some simple clarifications about that.
Adultry is punishiable under the UCMJ, and I have seen it happen.
If you go to the wayward's CO, there will be an investigation. If the command believes there is enough evidence to suggest that there is misconduct, they will be taken to non judicial punishment (NJP) and dealt with accordingly by their CO.
However let me stress the fact that no CO is going to take rank and pay from someone without clear evidence of misconduct. the CO has looser rules of evidence than a court, but just an accusation is not enough without some kind of evidence to back that up.
I wanted to clear this up because I have investigated alot of claims of adultry and without hard evidence, the case is going to be dropped.
Exactly.
And when spousal rape and other acts of sexual non-consent occur, the prosecutor's office can't always prosecute the crime either. It's all about evidence and damages. Adultery works out better if there's a child or std involved that's traceable by dna. Even video or audio can be forged nowadays, or claimed to be set up.
Basically, your best option is to keep your money from the attorneys.
And save your paperwork for the divorce, or for the truly hopeful, counseling (preferably individual, for yourself). Military counseling is also quite a letdown. It's geared towards getting people in a state where they can do their job. Anything more than that needs to be taken care of by the military member on their own time. Still, filing a complaint with a prosecutor's office and letting the CO know with a courtesy call that there might be trouble down the line, is a great way of putting pressure on your Sweetie who is wandering and toeing the line. If nothing else, it buys you time to get your act together while your Hero is scrambling to make his boss happy and avoid making the unit look like scre*ups who have so much free time that they don't know what to do with it except play with their other 'gun'.
Just know that if it is a single income household, you will be suffering too. So make sure you exhaust all options, counselling, etc, before jumping the gun.
Honestly most military commanders will do nothing about this; "unless" it somehow disrupts the unit, or otherwise creates a problem within the command.. In 99% of cases it will get kicked back down the the members SNCOIC and he/she will tell them to knock it off.
You have to remember that is generally more embarrassing for the command to admit there is an affair (one of its members is acting in a way that could bring discredit to the command) and actually have to persecute it than to brush it under the rug..
Honestly most military commanders will do nothing about this; "unless" it somehow disrupts the unit, or otherwise creates a problem within the command.. In 99% of cases it will get kicked back down the the members SNCOIC and he/she will tell them to knock it off.
You have to remember that is generally more embarrassing for the command to admit there is an affair (one of its members is acting in a way that could bring discredit to the command) and actually have to persecute it than to brush it under the rug..
this is especially true. If it doesn't affect their performance or the unit, its not an issue. Unless you go into the squadron acting a fool and causing a scene.
While adultery is listed as a criminal offense in the UCMJ, it is very rarely prosecuted in a court-martial. The few times I have seen it referred to a court, the adultery charge was a minor additional offense included with other offenses. Adultery is prosecuted under Article 134, UCMJ. Art. 134 offenses include an additional element - that the adultery must be service discrediting or prejudicial to good order and discipline. This additional element is why adultery is rarely prosecuted in court. The UCMJ lists many factors for Commanders to consider when deciding what to do with an adultery case. The usual factor that is most likely to have an effect on whether the case is prosecuted is whether the adulterous act had a direct impact on the mission and/or unit.
The military does handle adultery in other ways, such as administrative actions (letters of reprimand) or Art. 15 non-judicial punishment.
Lastly, if a soldier's Command learns of adultery, Command will often issue a no-contact order to the soldier (to each person if both are in the service). A violation of the no-contact order is where the soldier would likely face disciplinary action.
Bottom Line....have as much evidence of sexual nature of affair as possible. The best scenario is if it involves another military member or spouse of military member.
While adultery is listed as a criminal offense in the UCMJ, it is very rarely prosecuted in a court-martial. The few times I have seen it referred to a court, the adultery charge was a minor additional offense included with other offenses. Adultery is prosecuted under Article 134, UCMJ. Art. 134 offenses include an additional element - that the adultery must be service discrediting or prejudicial to good order and discipline. This additional element is why adultery is rarely prosecuted in court. The UCMJ lists many factors for Commanders to consider when deciding what to do with an adultery case. The usual factor that is most likely to have an effect on whether the case is prosecuted is whether the adulterous act had a direct impact on the mission and/or unit.
The military does handle adultery in other ways, such as administrative actions (letters of reprimand) or Art. 15 non-judicial punishment.
Lastly, if a soldier's Command learns of adultery, Command will often issue a no-contact order to the soldier (to each person if both are in the service). A violation of the no-contact order is where the soldier would likely face disciplinary action.
Bottom Line....have as much evidence of sexual nature of affair as possible. The best scenario is if it involves another military member or spouse of military member.
Also retired military here.
If you decide to report your spouse to his command, always have the evidence in hand, including dates, times, and the facts. Because a good commander will not offer NJP (Article 15) without consulting the JAG first, in the even that the servicemember decides to turn down the offer and opt for a trial (court martial). The evidence needs to be able to hold up in court.
Honestly most military commanders will do nothing about this; "unless" it somehow disrupts the unit, or otherwise creates a problem within the command.. In 99% of cases it will get kicked back down the the members SNCOIC and he/she will tell them to knock it off.
You have to remember that is generally more embarrassing for the command to admit there is an affair (one of its members is acting in a way that could bring discredit to the command) and actually have to persecute it than to brush it under the rug..
Actually, that isn't true. If something is brought up to the CO, they usually act on it. If they did nothing and the spouse goes to their Congressman about the lack of action. It's a career killer for the CO. SO, if there's evidence then the CO with act in accordance with the UCMJ. If there isn't enough, they usually give a direct order for that military member to have no contact with WW or WH. If they find out that contact is still happening, then they can hammer the military member for article 92, disobeying a lawful order,
Actually, that isn't true. If something is brought up to the CO, they usually act on it. If they did nothing and the spouse goes to their Congressman about the lack of action. It's a career killer for the CO. SO, if there's evidence then the CO with act in accordance with the UCMJ. If there isn't enough, they usually give a direct order for that military member to have no contact with WW or WH. If they find out that contact is still happening, then they can hammer the military member for article 92, disobeying a lawful order,
Contacting a congressman is usually a last resort. The mere threat of a dependent contacting a senator/congressman and having a congressional inquiry usually spurs action. I wont give details, but I merely mentioned to my First Sergeant that I was contacting my senator about a completely unrelated matter, and within a few hours, the wheels were greased and they were solving my other matter.
Having a certain amount of congressional inquiries also affects the base commander because it the inquiry goes to the base commander first, then he/she is chewing out the unit commander about the congressional inquiry.
Adultry and Military Punishment 
